Update: Fake kidnapping report by elementary school students leads to police manhunt in Baldwin Park

BALDWIN PARK - A search for a kidnapper was called off Thursday after a group of elementary school students admitted making up a story of seeing a girl abducted, officials said.

The incident began about 10:40 a.m. when three 5- to 6-year-old students at Margaret Heath Elementary School, 14321 School Street, told officials they saw a man grab a young girl from the campus, put a bag over her head and run away with her, Baldwin Park police Capt. Michael Taylor said.

Police responded to the school in force, ordering a campus lockdown and setting up a search perimeter in the neighborhood around the school, the captain said.

As the investigation continued, "We took a head count of all students and found everyone was accounted for," Taylor said.

Police then re-interviewed the students who reported the kidnapping, and they admitted making up the story, he said. The motive for the false kidnapping story was unclear.